Air Mauritius has taken delivery of its first A330-900, on lease from Air Lease Corporation, on April 18, 2019.

The national carrier of the Republic of Mauritius is the first A330neo operator based in the southern hemisphere, and the first airline in the world to operate a combination of both the A330neo and A350 XWB.

The aircraft named Aapravasi Ghat after one of Mauritius’ historical sites will feature a two-class cabin with 28 business class seats and 260 economy class seats. The carrier will deploy the aircraft on routes connecting Mauritius to Europe (mainly London and Geneva), India and South East Asian routes and on regional destinations including Johannesburg, Antananarivo and Reunion Island.

Air Mauritius CEO, Somas Appavou stated: “I am delighted to welcome our first Airbus A330neo, another milestone in our fleet modernization programme. The addition of two A330neos to our fleet will bring more flexibility and efficiency to our operations while supporting our network strategy. “

Air Mauritius currently operates 9 Airbus aircraft of which two A350-900s, three A340-300s, two A330-200s and two A319s on its regional and long haul services.

With an order book of more than 1,700 aircraft from 120 customers to date, the A330 is the most popular widebody family.